Kira Plastinina: Russian Fashion Designer Expands into America

By day, Kira Plastinina is like most 15-year-old girls. She goes to a Moscow high school, albeit an elite Anglo-American school, and she has a messy locker. Once school is over, though, Plastinina's other life begins and it's definitely not the life of a typical teenager. She has become something of a fashion mogul, like Liz Claiborne or Tommy Hilfiger. With the help of her wealthy father, she has opened a chain of clothing stores across Russia (more than 30) and she is scheduled to launch stores in America later this year. "It's a lot of work and it's impossible for one person to do all of it," she said. Although she does not personally design every piece, she approves all of them. From the office, it's on to one of her Kira Plastinina shops, where she conducts a tour. It's bright and colorful, the style is a mix of a pop and punk and the stylistic influence of her favorite fashion icon, Paris Hilton, is readily apparent. The skirts are short, the hot pants even shorter and most of the clothes are gold or pink and made from shiny fabrics. When Plastinina held her fashion show at Moscow Fashion Week, Paris Hilton was flown over as the guest of honor (reportedly for $2 million). "I really like her and I think she's an amazing person and I think she's really cool," she said. Her reason for inviting Hilton: "I really like her style and I was interested to know what's her opinion about my collection."

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=4108523&page=1